Shipping container for clothing



y 7, 1959 J. GARFUNKEL 2,893,545

SHIPPING CONTAINER FOR CLOTHING I Filed March 25, 1957 11-57524 IFfuE-EGB INVENTOR.

' JACKY GARFUNKEL manna United States Patent @flice Patented July 7, 1959 SHIPPING CONTAINER FOR CLOTHING Jack Garfunkel, Flushing, N.Y., assignor to Continental Can Company, Inc., New York, N. a corporation 7 of New York Application March 25, 1957, Serial No. 648,046 7 Claims. (Cl. 206-7) The inventionrelates to shipping containers for clothing, and more especially to the construction of such containers as made from a paper product such as fibreboard or corrugated paperboard and the like with special provision for supporting clothes hangers carrying suits, dresses or other articles of clothing. 1 One of the problems encountered with this type of shipping container is that the bar from which the clothing is hung imposes a highly concentrated loading of the upper side walls of the container and tends to buckle them. This tendency is particularly serious in the case of containers which are designed to be loaded from the front through a swinging front wall panel because the usual means for fastening shut the swinging wall panel at the corner of the container is inadequate to resist the stresses encountered under many conditions of use. What sometimes happens is that the corner fastening gives way, usually near the bottom corner first, and allows the side walls to become badly distorted. In the end the container may spread open at the corner so as to partly expose the contents with resultant serious damage or loss. The more obvious solution of this problem has been to use an inner or outer wood frame to reinforce the edges of the corrugated paper board container, but this is an expensive answer. It is an object of my invention to provide a paper product container which will satisfactorily resist the buckling action of a clothes hanger bar without the need for wood reinforcements. I have developed a construction which not only accomplishes this object, but in which the loaded hanger bar even helps to reinforce the fastening at the corner of the container. This fastening, in turn, reinforces the support for the hanger bar. Further, I have devised an improvement in the hanger bar itself which helps to lock the hangers in place without the use of the auxiliary wood or metal locking strips heretofore employed for this purpose in woodreinforced containers and in containers of other types.

My invention is especially useful as applied to a shipping container having a body section of the type comprising side,'back and front wall panels connected to one another at three corners of the body and initially unconnected at the fourth corner to provide a hinged front wall panel, the several wall panels having a flap extending along the upper edge of the body and folded downwardly against the body. Complementary attaching and reinforcing flaps extend from the meeting edges of the front wall panel and adjacent side wall panel at the fourth corner. The flap which extends from the adjacent side wall panel is folded over against the outside of the body so that the'other attaching flap, i-.e., the one which extends from the front wall panel, can be brought to overlie the first one, and the two stapled together throughout their length from the outside of the container. A

' rying out my invention.

supporting bar for coat hangers engages and connects the top sides of the side wall panels.

In my preferred construction the ends of the attaching flaps are held underneath the downwardly folded flap with the result that the ends of the attaching flaps reinforce the downwardly folded flap against the load imposed by the supporting bar, while the downwardly folded flap reinforces the attaching flaps by holding them against the body of the container. The supporting bar is slotted to receive the end of a hanger hook, and the edges of the slot are formed by inwardly turned flanges for engagement with an enlarged portion at the end of the hanger hook. Other features and advantages of my invention will appear as the description proceeds.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a top perspective view of a shipping container illustrating the best mode contemplated by me for car- The container is here shown with the top removed and with the front wall panel partially swung open.

Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of a corner of the carton illustrating how the attaching and reinforcing flanges can be stapled together from the outside by inserting the lower jaw of a staple gun between the side wall and the flaps.

Fig. 3 is a detail top view of the hanger bar.

Fig. 4 is a side view of the hanger bar taken as indicated at 44 in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a detail cross sectional view, to an enlarged scale, taken as indicated at 55 in Fig. 3, and illustrating the manner in which the hook of a hanger is locked to the bar.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, illustrating how the same hanger construction serves to lock in place a hanger hook of another form.

Fig. 7 is a similar view showing how the same hanger bar is adapted for use with a hanger hook of still another form. I

In Fig. 1, I have shown a shipping container of corrugated paperboard, fibreboard, or the like, having a body section of the type comprising side wall panels 8 and 9, back wall panel 10, and front wall panel 11, connected to one another at three corners of the body and initially unconnected at the fourth corner to provide a hinged front Wall panel. The several wall panels have a flap 12 extending along the upper edge of the body and folded downwardly against it. This flap preferably is continuous throughout the length of the body so that when the container is set up, the flap is wrapped around the three corners at which the side, back and front wall panels are connected to one another. Complementary attaching and reinforcing flaps 13, 14 extend from the meeting edges of the front wall panel 11 and adjacent side wall panel 8 respectively. Flap 14 is folded over against the outside of the body, i.e., against the side wall panel 8, so that flap 13 can be brought to overlie flap 14 and the two stapled together throughout their length with the use of a staple gun 28 in the manner indicated in Fig. 2. A supporting bar 15 for coat hangers 16 engages and connects the top sides of the side wall panels 8 and 9. For this purpose the supporting bar is made with U-shaped ends 17 fitting around the downwardly folding flap 12 and holding this flap snugly against the body.

In my preferred construction the supporting bar 15 is slotted as at 18 to receive the end of a hanger hook 19, and the edges of the slot are formed by inwardly turned flanges 20 and 21 (Fig. 5). These flanges are sloping or inclined to the horizontal. The hanger bar is conveniently made of heavy gauge sheet metal of generally inverted channel form, and when the flanges 20 and 21 are disposed in the particular manner shown, it will be observed that the hanger bar is well adapted for use with hangers of the several styles commonly employed today for use with quality garments. This will be clear from a comparison of Figs. 5, 6 and 7, which show how three.

different styles of hanger hooks 19, 19 and 19" of hangers 16, 16' and 16", respectively, can be locked to the hanger bar. The slots 18 of the hanger bar are widened at one end as at 22 to permit insertion of the enlarged end portion of the hanger hook into position to be slid under the flange 21 for locking the hanger to the supporting bar.

The top and bottom closures of the container may be of any conventional construction. In Fig. 1, I have shown a bottom closure 23 secured to an upwardly folded flange 24 extending from the bottom edge of the container body. Initially this bottom closure is fastened only at the sides and back, its attaching flaps 25, 26 and 27 at the front of the container being left open to permit the front wall panel 11 to remain open until after loading of the container.

The terms and expressions which I have employed are used in a descriptive and not a limiting sense, and I have no intention of excluding such equivalents of the invention described, or of portions thereof, as fall within the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. In a paper product shipping container, a supporting bar for clothes hangers, said supporting bar being slotted to receive the end of a hanger hook and the edges of the slot being formed by inwardly turned flanges for engagement with an enlarged portion at the end of the hanger hook.

2. In a paper product shipping container, a supporting bar for clothes hangers, said supporting bar beingslotted to receive the end of a hanger hook and the edges of the slot being formed by inwardly turned flanges for engagement with an enlarged portion at the. end of the. hanger hook, and the inwardly turned flanges being inclined to the horizontal.

I 3. In a paper product shipping container, a supporting bar for clothes hangers, said supporting bar being slotted to receive the end of a hanger hook and the edges of the slot being formed by inwardly turned flanges for engagement with an enlarged portion at the end of the hanger hook, and the slot having a widened entrance'for insertion of the enlarged end portion of the hanger hook into position to he slid under one of said flanges for locking the hanger to the supporting bar.

4. In a paper product shipping container for clothing, a body section of the type comprising side, back and front wall panels connected to one another at three corners of the body and initially unconnected at the fourth corner to provide a hinged front Wall panel, the several wall panels having a flap extending along the upper edge of the body and folded downwardly against the body, complementary attaching and reinforcing flaps extending from the meeting edges of the front wall panel and adjacent side wall panel'at said fourth corner, that one of said attaching flaps which extends from said adjacent side wall panel being folded over'against the outside of the body so that the other attaching flap can be brought to overlie the first one and the two stapled together throughout their length from the outside of the container, a supporting bar for coat hangers engaging and connecting the top sides of the side wall panels, said supporting bar reinforcing the tops of the side wall panels against bending laterally of the container and the attaching and reinforcing flaps holding the corner attachment against buckling under the concentrated load imposed by the supporting bar and acting in the longitudinal direction, and said supporting bar being slotted to receive the end of a hanger hook and the edges of the slot being formed by inwardly turned flanges for engagement with an enlarged portion at the end of the hanger hook.

5. In a paper product shipping container for clothing, a body section of the type comprising side, back and front wall panels connected to one another at three corners of the body and initially unconnected at the fourth corner to provide a hinged front Wall panel, the several wall panels having a flap extending along the upper edge of body and folded downwardly against the body, complementary attaching and reinforcing flaps extending from the meeting edges of the front wall panel and adjacent side wall panel at said fourth corner, that one of said attaching flaps which extends from said adjacent side wall panel being folded over against the outside of the body so that the other attaching flap can be brought to overlie the first one and the two stapled together throughout their length from the outside of the container, a supporting bar for coat hangers engaging and connecting the top sides of the side wall panels, said supporting bar reinforcing the tops of the side wall panels against bending laterally of the container and the attaching and reinforcing flaps holding the corner attachment against buckling under the concentrated load imposed by the supporting bar and acting in the longitudinal direction, and said supporting bar being slotted to receive the end of a hanger hook and the edges of the slot being formed by inwardly turned flanges for engagement with an enlarged portion at the end of the hanger, hook, the inwardly turned flanges sloping downwardly.

6. In a paper product shipping container for clothing, a body section of the type comprising side, back and front wall panels connected to one another at three corners of the body and initially unconnected at the fourth corner to provide a hinged front wall panel, the several wall panels having a flap extendingalong the upper edge of the body and folded downwardly against the body, complementary attaching and reinforcing flaps extending from the meeting edges of the front wall panel and adjacent side wall panel at said fourth corner, that one of said attaching flaps which extends from said adjacent side wall panel being folded over against the outside of the body so that the other attaching flap can be brought to overlie the first one and the two stapled together throughout their length from the outside of the container, a supporting bar for coat hangers engaging and connecting the top-sides of the side wall panels, said supporting bar reinforcing the tops of the side wall panels against bending laterally of the container and the attaching and reinforcing flaps holding the corner attachment against buckling under the concentrated load imposed by the supporting bar and acting in the longitudinal direction, and said supporting bar being slotted to receive the end of a hanger hook and the edges of the slot being formed by inwardly turned flanges for engagement with an enlarged portion at the end of the hanger hook, and the slot being widened at the end for insertion of the enlarged end portion of the hanger hook into position to be slid under one of said flanges for locking the hanger to the supporting bar.

7. In a paper product shipping container for clothing, a body section of the type comprising side, back and front wall panels connected to one another at three corners of the body and initially unconnected at the fourth corner to provide a hinged front wall panel, the several wall panels having a flap extending uninterruptedly along the upper edge of the body and folded downwardly against the outside of the body and wrapped around the three corners at which the side, back and front wall panels are connected to one another, complementary attaching and reinforcing flaps extending from the meeting edges of the front wall panel and adjacent side wall panel at said fourth corner, that one of said complementary attaching flaps which extends from said adjacent side wall panel being folded over and held against the outside of the body by engagement of the end of said one attaching 5 flap by the flap that is folded downwardly against the outside of the body, and the other of said complementary attaching flaps having an end which is slidable into the pocket formed between said one attaching flap and said downwardly folded flap. 5

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,626,381 Batts Apr. 2, 1927 10 

